Best Email Marketing Software – 8 Must-have Features

Whether you are a young company trying to make a name for yourself or a well-established organization, email marketing is an important part of your marketing strategy. However, with a sea of email software to choose from, it is a challenge to narrow down your options and pick the right solution for your business. 

How do you go about it? Do you go for the most affordable email software or the one that offers the best free email templates? Typically, the answer to that question is a mix and match of different factors. 

Even though social media marketing has taken the marketing world by storm, email marketing has stood the test of time. Even today, most companies consider email marketing as the most effective marketing channel to get the best return on investment (ROI).

Let’s get this straight! Email software is an investment that will impact your business. This is why there are various factors that you should consider before choosing an email marketing tool for your business.

Although there are some hot debates and discussions regarding which is the best email marketing software, there is no clear-cut winner. Why? That is because every company has different requirements. A tool that might work for company A might not necessarily provide the same results for company B. 

Having said that, there are a few core features that all the top online email marketing software companies offer. Let’s take a look at them before you can go all-in and choose a software for your business. 

1. Range of Templates

In the current day and age, creating emails from scratch is going out of fashion, and the reason for that is time. Businesses are seeking new ways to boost their productivity by automating recurring tasks and processes. 

The email software of your choice should include a buffet of email templates that can add value to various email marketing campaigns – from promotions to newsletters, product launches, and beyond. 

Besides, as personalization is a hot trend within the marketing space today, you should be able to customize these templates in accordance with your branding guidelines and more. 

At the end of the day, the goal is to create and deliver the most relevant content to your customers. 

2. Robust email builder

We have well and truly entered the era of do-it-yourself (DIY) marketing. An email builder with simple drag-and-drop features is exactly what you need to craft engaging email marketing campaigns. 

In most cases, what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editor should do the job for you as there are no abrupt changes that take place after you deliver an email. 

Some of the elements that you can simply drag, and drop within a template are:

• Call-to-action (CTA) buttons
• Dividers
• Texts
• Spacers
• Hero images

As a user, you have the freedom to customize fonts, colors, text side, add your brand’s logo and other branding elements. 

3. Mobile-ready

Today, nearly half of all emails (49%) are opened on a mobile device [1]. The number is expected to grow in the coming years due to the dwindling cost of electronic devices worldwide. 

Looking at that stat, you should definitely opt for an online email software that provides the right features to create mobile-friendly email campaigns. 

The mobile device trend is not likely to go anywhere anytime soon. Google revealed that 75% of Gmail users access their accounts using a mobile device [2]. 

This is one of the most important reasons why to choose a top email software that automatically optimizes your email campaigns for you on different devices. 

Besides, it should also come with a bunch of mobile-friendly templates which make it easier to build mobile email campaigns. 

4. Spam and design testing

Without the testing features, you will never know how your email campaigns are likely to display on different devices. This is why it is important to preview how your images, texts, and other elements of your message will show in various inboxes on various devices. 

You should search for an online email software that ensures all your emails look exactly how you want them in all email clients. 

Now let’s talk about spam testing. As a business owner, you may be aware of the stringent laws and regulations linked with spam emails. It is a good idea to choose a web-based email software that enables you to test every campaign before you deliver them to customers. 

This spam testing feature helps you identify any material that could instantly trigger spam reports at the server, firewall, and desktop levels. The main benefit here is that your messages go straight into the inbox instead of the spam folder. 

5. Send limit

As your company expands over time, naturally, your email list size is likely to grow with it. Hence, you do not want an email software that restricts the send frequency of your email campaigns. 

If you have just started your research, try looking for an online email marketing software that offers you different send limits for different levels. Also, you should check if the email service company offers pay-as-you-go, monthly, and annual plans to offer enough flexibility. 

For instance: Consider that your email list has 1000 subscribers and you want to send at least 3 emails per month. This means that you would want to opt for a web-based email marketing software that allows you to send roughly around 3000-3500 emails per month. 

As your email list grows, you can upgrade your sending tier accordingly.

6. Pricing

Ideally, you would not want to spend huge sums of money on an email marketing software when you are just starting out. However, only working with tools that provide a freemium model is not good enough either. Such tools do not provide sufficient analytics and features which can take your email marketing efforts to the next level. 

At the junction, what do you do? Do you go all-in and spend big money on a premium tool or simply continue working with free tools?

Both of these approaches have their pitfalls. Your best bet is to look for an online email software that can grow with you, keep your costs low, and at the same time give high returns. 

The best email marketing software systems scale and grow with your business and also provide flexible pricing plans. 

7. Reporting and analytics

Believe it or not, email marketing is one of the most measurable channels marketers can use. Thus, make sure that your email marketing software offers excellent reporting capabilities that allow you to be certain that your efforts are in the right direction. 

Some of the key metrics that should be included in the reports are bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, click-through rate, and open rate. 

These data points are a fair reflection of the overall performance of your email marketing campaigns. Apart from these, you should also be tapping into secondary reporting alternatives to enhance the design and strategy of your campaigns. 

8. Support

Let’s face it! You are going to require assistance from your email marketing service provider from time to time. The best email marketing software not only provides the best features but also offers world-class support. 

Besides, if your email marketing system provider offers support via different channels, that is an added advantage. 

Final thoughts

All business owners and marketers would want to buy the best email marketing software for their business. However, to come to a conclusion on what software would be best, you need to define your marketing goals. 

There is not a single cloud-based or web-based email software that does not have its cons. However, the success of your email campaigns primarily depends on the core features of these solutions. 

If you do not want to spend a lot of time on research, we have you covered. You can go through our tool reviews, compare different email marketing software, and draw a conclusion within seconds. 

If you have not yet figured out what features you are looking for, now is the perfect time to start!

Feature Image Source: rawpixel.com

Image 1 Source: Image by 200 Degrees from Pixabay 

Image 2 Source: rawpixel.com

Image 3 Source: rawpixel.com

Source:

[1] [2] Dean. B (2021) “57 Key Email Marketing Stats For 2021” Backlinko [online] Available from: https://backlinko.com/email-marketing-stats [accessed June 2021]